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Brass bands?


MikeN

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Found some recordings of them, and first - holy cow, they're good!

I was looking for more detail, though. What kind of instruments do they use? How big are they usually? I saw that there's a UK and European championships, are these well followed?

Enlightenment is needed!

Thanks,

Mike

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The British brass band is a very traditional ensemble, much like drum corps of old, in that every town had one (maybe it still is that common, I don't know) and many of the members have no prior musical training (there is no music in school in Europe for the most part, including England). The instrumentation is:

  • One Eb soprano cornet
  • Four Bb solo cornets
  • One Bb repiano cornet
  • One Bb flugelhorn
  • Three Eb tenor horns
  • Two Bb baritones
  • Two Bb euphoniums
  • Two Bb tenor trombones
  • One bass trombone
  • Two Eb tubas
  • Two Bb tubas
  • Three percussionists

Some interesting notes about this grouping of instruments:

  • Yes, there is a difference between baritones and euphoniums, especially here. Baritones have a cylindrical bore, while euphoniums have a conical bore. Their sounds are different, but they complement each other nicely in this ensemble.
  • The bass trombone is the only instrument in the group that reads bass clef, and in the past has been found pitched in G, among other keys.

There is a North American brass band association and competitions, and there are quite a few excellent bands around the US. One I'm pretty familiar with is the Lake Wobegon Brass Band, based in my hometown of Anoka, MN, started by my first band director and my first tuba teacher, among others. Check out some more of these wonderful groups; there are fewer things I enjoy hearing more than the warm rich sound of a British brass band. Also, check out the movie "Brassed Off" for some insight into the kind of environment that brass bands exist in over in England.

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Hey guys,

First off let me give my Brass Band creds...

Bass Trombone

Varsity All Star Brass Bands, Columbus, Ohio

1988, 1989

Ohio Collegiate Brass Band, Columbus

1992, 1993, 1994,

Central Ohio Brass Band, Columbus

1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

Illinois Brass Band, Chicago

2000, 2001, 2002

Seven NABBA first place finishes.

Now, Big Dog you forgot a couple of horns. 2 second cornets, 2 third cornets

Did you know that there have been brass band contests in England for more than 150 years! A traditional competing band in England has twenty-four brass (The limit). Here in the busy US, we often have a few more players to cover when people are missing, like four or five trombones and such.

If you would like to know more go to The North American Brass Band Association web site at www.NABBA.org. Or email me directly. I have been to England with a band for a few contests, and worked with some of the greatest brass band conductors in the world, so I know a little bit of history and am up on current news in the Band World.

The best thing to do is to join a band, find one in your area. Drive up to two hours to get to it!

Good luck,

Jeff Banyots,

Contra

SCV 1988

Limited Edition 1989, 1990

Kilties 2001, 2002

jeffbanyots@yahoo.com

www.chicagobrasschoir.com

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Hey guys,

First off let me give my Brass Band creds...

Bass Trombone

Varsity All Star Brass Bands, Columbus, Ohio

1988, 1989

Ohio Collegiate Brass Band, Columbus         

1992, 1993, 1994,

Central Ohio Brass Band, Columbus

1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

Illinois Brass Band, Chicago

2000, 2001, 2002

Seven NABBA first place finishes.

                               

Now, Big Dog you forgot a couple of horns.  2 second cornets, 2 third cornets

Did you know that there have been brass band contests in England for more than 150 years!  A traditional competing band in England has twenty-four brass (The limit).  Here in the busy US, we often have a few more players to cover when people are missing, like four or five trombones and such.

If you would like to know more go to The North American Brass Band Association web site at www.NABBA.org.  Or email me directly.  I have been to England with a band for a few contests, and worked with some of the greatest brass band conductors in the world, so I know a little bit of history and am up on current news in the Band World.

The best thing to do is to join a band, find one in your area.  Drive up to two hours to get to it!

Good luck,

Jeff Banyots,

Contra

SCV 1988

Limited Edition 1989, 1990

Kilties 2001, 2002

jeffbanyots@yahoo.com

www.chicagobrasschoir.com

....this guy Jeff can play! b**bs

Hope you are doin' well..If you have the time..stop in at Gilmore next sat. and check out our '03 hornline. Nice sounds coming from our rejuvinated corps. :whip:

hope to cya...

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If I can just add a minor correction to the intial reply, there is music education in English schools, usually I dont think it is part of the compulsory eduction after the third year of high school i.e.13/14 years old. This is thinking back to my days though which is a good 12 years now but Im fairly sure it hasn't changed. It is optional from that point onwards.

Many of the brass bands over here originally came from the mining communities we had and there was pretty much always a brass band connected to the colliery made up primarily of the young families of the miners. Many of these are now defunct as the mining industry over here has been wound down.

As far as the competitions are concerned I suppose as much as any similar activity they are well attended and followed by those involved and those who enjoy to listen/watch etc.

we had a TV show on my local channel a while ago following a local brass band to the British Championships and ~I was pleasantly surprised at how many people attended.

On another point here the corps I used to belong to applied for a grant from our national lottery and was turned down by the local arts council because of something along the lines of our organisation not being able to achieve the same standards as a brass band. What do you guys think of that?

From memory what we did was sent them a few videos of us and also of the DCI video at the time to prove a point of how high the standard we were trying to achieve would be! strange people!!

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  • 2 years later...

Hello I'm replying to the fact that you say you marched Limited Edition in 1989. I'm looking for old corps photos. I marched soprano in 89, and my corps photo was stolen from me while I was in the Navy. I was wondering if you had a copy or know someone who might have one so I could get a copy of it.

Rob Smith, Sop II, LE2

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  • 11 months later...

I grew up in a mining town in the northeast of England, where "Jazz" bands were popular. We played kazoos with silver coated "bells" attached to the kazoo. We had tenors, snares a bass drum, cymbals. tamborine. a mascot, drum majors & the banner carriers. I still have some great pics of the Billingham Silvertones from the mid-60's when my whole family marched.

We marched in local parades & traveled to other towns for competitions. The medals & trophies were really well made.

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Gettysburg, PA holds a Brass Band Festival every year around the town and battlefield. As you can imagine with G-burg being one of the big Civil War sites there is a mix of groups playing modern and Civil War era instruments.

Or so I've heard, I haven't had a chance to see much of it. :(

http://www.gettysburgbrassbandfestival.org/

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In RB3 we use only 2 solo cornets, which I thought was standard, and we had 2ea 2nd & 2 3rd cornets, along with the repiano. All other instrumentation was the same.

Being a novice to the Brass Band idiom I was elated to find the challenge within the parts and IMHO it seemed like drum corps without the feet. I now use my cornet for teaching.......guess it's a dependency thing????? :worthy:

Jimbalaya

The British brass band is a very traditional ensemble, much like drum corps of old, in that every town had one (maybe it still is that common, I don't know) and many of the members have no prior musical training (there is no music in school in Europe for the most part, including England). The instrumentation is:
  • One Eb soprano cornet
  • Four Bb solo cornets
  • One Bb repiano cornet
  • One Bb flugelhorn
  • Three Eb tenor horns
  • Two Bb baritones
  • Two Bb euphoniums
  • Two Bb tenor trombones
  • One bass trombone
  • Two Eb tubas
  • Two Bb tubas
  • Three percussionists

Some interesting notes about this grouping of instruments:

  • Yes, there is a difference between baritones and euphoniums, especially here. Baritones have a cylindrical bore, while euphoniums have a conical bore. Their sounds are different, but they complement each other nicely in this ensemble.
  • The bass trombone is the only instrument in the group that reads bass clef, and in the past has been found pitched in G, among other keys.

There is a North American brass band association and competitions, and there are quite a few excellent bands around the US. One I'm pretty familiar with is the Lake Wobegon Brass Band, based in my hometown of Anoka, MN, started by my first band director and my first tuba teacher, among others. Check out some more of these wonderful groups; there are fewer things I enjoy hearing more than the warm rich sound of a British brass band. Also, check out the movie "Brassed Off" for some insight into the kind of environment that brass bands exist in over in England.

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